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November 1, 2002
To: Campus Community
From: Chancellor MRC Greenwood
Re: Proposition 47, Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2002
Proposition 47, on the November 5 ballot, is a bond measure that would provide funding for public education facilities throughout California. While there has been considerable news coverage about how Proposition 47 would help ease overcrowding and make overdue safety repairs of California's K-12 schools, it is important to remember that the bond would also benefit higher education, including the University of California, Santa Cruz.
It is not my role to urge you to vote in a particular way on a ballot measure. Nevertheless, I want to provide you with some information about how the University would be affected by this measure.
The UC system would use Proposition 47 funds to help accommodate a 40 percent enrollment increase, seismically reinforce buildings vulnerable to earthquakes, and modernize outdated infrastructure. The UC Regents have endorsed Proposition 47, saying California’s educational institutions are in urgent need of repairs, renovations, improvements and updates in classrooms, libraries, laboratories and other basic facilities if California students are to receive the education they need and deserve.
UCSC would receive approximately $42 million for the construction of the following facilities:
Humanities and Social Sciences Facility
27,305,000
(planning, working drawings and construction)
Emergency Response Center
7,109,000
(preliminary plans, working drawings and construction)
McHenry Project-Library Addition, Seismic and ADA Improvements, Renovations
3,602,000
(preliminary plans,)
Alterations for Engineering, Phase 2
396,000
(working drawings and construction)
Seismic Corrections
3,000,000
(working drawings and construction)
The bonds used to finance these projects would not result in a tax increase but, rather, would be repaid out of the state’s General Fund over a 30-year period. This is similar to a family borrowing money from a bank to buy a home and paying off the loan over a period of years.
Proposition 47 has been endorsed by the California State PTA, California Taxpayers Association, California Chamber of Commerce, and Congress of California Seniors, among other organizations.
Opponents of Proposition 47 include the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Taxpayers Coalition, and the Northern California Committee for Limited Government; opponents argue that the measure is poorly written and that the state has incurred too much debt already.
Reasonable people have diverging views on this and most other election issues. I believe our state is best served when citizens consider the facts from all perspectives and then make an informed decision. I encourage voters to visit the web sites of the yes and no campaigns or the secretary of state's web site at http://www.ss.ca.gov to learn more about Proposition 47.
Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu